Firefly adds mobile device-like targeting to ads on car rooftops

A San Francisco-based startup is launching a new platform on Thursday that marries the contextual targeting of mobile to digital-out-of-home (DOOH) signs.

‘Situationally aware’ outdoor mobile signs. Firefly has installed digital signs atop hundreds of taxis and other rent-on-demand vehicles like Lyft or Uber during its months-long beta phase in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The rooftop signs receive ads via 4G and 4G LTE cellular transmission that are what founder and CEO Kaan Gunay called “situationally aware,” with targeting based on location, time, intended demographic, weather or other contextual data.

While this sort of targeting has become commonplace for ads on smartphones or tablets, it’s now just emerging in digital signs. Gunay said his firm is the first to place geo-targeted displays in large numbers on car services, with a granularity that can go down to a city block.